Verizon and HTC have officially launched the Droid DNA, the US version of the HTC J Butterfly available in Japan.

Apart from a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon Pro S4 1.5GHz processor, its major showcase feature is a mighty 5-inch 1080p super LCD 3 display - putting it slap bang in the middle of rival devices the Samsung Galaxy S III and Samsung Galaxy Note 2 in real estate stakes.

HTC claims that the screen also has the largest pixel density available on any smartphone. Its 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution is matched with 440 pixels per inch. In comparison, the iPhone 5's Retina display offers 326ppi, so images and text on the Droid DNA should be razor sharp.

As well as the meaty processor, there's 2GB of RAM on board and 4G LTE connectivity. It comes with Android Jelly Bean from the box, which is wrapped in HTC Sense 4+.

Design-wise, the Droid DNA tapers to just 4mm thick, and the back is soft touch. It has red microgrill sidewalls because, well, they look the business.

The rear camera is 8-megapixels, but HTC is singing and dancing more about its front-facing camera, which it calls "best in class". It offers 2.1-megapixels, f/2.0 aperture and 88-degree ultra-wide-angle capture, so self-portraits and video calling will be of high quality, even when there's more than one trying to cram into the frame.

HTC VideoPic is included as one of the many features, which allows you to shoot photos while capturing 1080p video at the same time, and there's a four per second continuous shooting mode.

Like many of the higher-end HTC phones of late, the Verizon Droid DNA comes with Beats Audio. The phone also has a 2.55v built-in headset amplifier and dedicated rear speaker amp.

We're waiting for general availability details, but, naturally, the Droid DNA by HTC is a Verizon exclusive.

Pocket-lint doesn't think it is likely to make the UK as is, but we wouldn't be surprised if we get a release using a similar form and different name.